By Scott Murphy

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How a group of passionate divers are trying to create essential awareness about a growing ocean threat…

By day, Roger J. Muller Jr. can usually be found overseeing Muller Insurance – his longstanding insurance agency in Hoboken, New Jersey. At night, friends often seek him out on the ice, where he can be spotted either captaining the Hoboken Rockets hockey team, or watching the New Jersey Devils pursue a hopeful Stanley Cup.

But every few months, as he stares at the exotic fish in his massive office tank, Muller gets the itch to go deep sea diving. “It’s like a mission,” he says. For the past 25 years, he has dived in places as varied as Cuba, Italy, Panama, Bonaire, Curacao, Jamaica, St. Croix, Grand Cayman Islands, Aruba, the Florida Panhandle, Rangiria, Mo’oria, Bora Bora, the South Pacific  and Hawaii. He’s accumulated some noteworthy stats and achievements during that time: over 2,500 dives and 132 major diving certificates. “I love it,” he says with a clear passion in his voice. “I started in 1998 in Aruba, and just kept going. I’ve gotten every certification from Open Water Diver to instructor.”